Improvement in the manufacture of iron



ilia trnt (Milne.

Letters Patent No. 90,372, dated May 25, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, \Vummn M. Lyon, 01' the city of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Iron; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention is designed to obviate the danger of an unnecessary waste of metal in the practical operation of the process of manufi'tcturing wrought-iron from pig-iron, known as the Ellershauscn process, which arises from the free use of an oxidizing-agent in the decarbonizatiou of the pig-metal.

In the Ellcrshausen process, as described by the patentees, the pig-metal is melted and run into an ingot-mould, or other suitable receptacle, simultaneously with a stream of pulverized or crushed iron-ore, or other oxide.

A solid conglomerate is thus immediately obtained, which is designated as pig-bloom, or pig-scrap," consisting of a mixture partly chemical and partly mechanical of pig-iron, or iron surchargcd with carbon and oxide of iron, if, as is generally the case, iron-ore is used as the decarbonizing-agent.

Now, it frequently happens, in practice, that the oxide of iron is in excess, so that the pig-bloom,

pig-scrap, or conglomerate, contains more oxygen than is necessary to eliminate the carbon of the pigmetal, and furnish cinder enough to carry off the impurities, and the result is, that when the conglomerate is subjected to heat previous to working, as described in the specification of the patent oflr'th day of November, 1868, to Ellershausen, Guzman, and Stayner, the excess of oxygen acts on the iron, producing an excess of cinder, thus causing a waste of the iron. 7

To remedy this, I have discovered that it is only necessary to add, in the process of mixing the materials to form the conglomerate or pig-bloom, a sufficient amount of carbon to supply the necessary reagent for the excess of oxygen, and prevent the formation of an unnecessary amount of cinder, or to reduce any excess of cinder to metallic iron by deoX- idizing it.

The carbon used may be of any convenient kind, such as powdered charcoal, coke-dust, or coal-dust, and, when used in that shape, the pulverized carbon is cit-her mixed in proper proportion with the pulverized ore, and then poured-in a stream simultaneously .with the stream of melted pig-iron into or upon a mould, or other suitable receptacle, so as thoroughly and intimately to mix the carbon and ore with the pig-metal to form the conglomerate, or, the ore, carbon, and pig-metal, are run together in separate streams.

Another mode of supplying thecarbou, which I find to work well in practice, is to mix with the pulverized iron-ore, carbon oil, (pet-roleum,) or other grease or fat, rich in carbon, or the residuum, or'waste of carbon-oil refineries.

The powdered ore mixes withthe oil, and, after a short time, becomes dry, so that it is easily run in a stream into the molten pig-iron.

The relative quantity of carbon to be employed will vary according to the quality of the pig-metal and of the ore used in the process, but will ordinarily be about five pounds of powdered charcoal, or five pounds of residuum, to every one hundred pounds of pigmetal converted into conglomerate.

By the use of this improvement, I am enabled to prevent waste of the iron inthe manufacture of pigbloom, in which case the melted cinder, required as a bath for the pig-bloom, in the process of treating it in the furnace, preparatory to rolling, may be supplied from the waste-cinder obtained from other sources in the factory.

Thus it will be seen, that by putting in more or less carbon, the formation of. cinder from the pig-bloom is prevented, to a greater or less degree, as may be desired, and thereby the yield of malleable iron correspondingly increased or diminished.

I do not desire to limit myself to the use of any particular form of carbon, nor to any particular mode of applying it to the mixture forming the conglomerate, and, in speaking of solid carbon, I use the term as distinguished from carbon in a gaseous or liquid state.

Having thus described my improvement,

What I claim as-my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- The mixing of solid carbon with iron-ore, or other oxide, and melted pig-metal, in the formation of the conglomerate known as pig-bloom, or pig-scrap, in such manner, and in such proportion, substantially as hereinbefore described, as to reduce the excess of oxides in the conglomerate, and thus lessen the formation of cinder, and increase the yield of malleable iron, in the process of treating the conglomerate preparatory to rolling or hammering the iron.

In testimony whereof, I, the said WILLIAM M. LYON, have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM M. LYON.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS ELLERSHAUSEN, Tnos. B. KERR. 

